Proverbs 19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 19
1 Better to be poor and walk in integrity
than rich and crooked in one’s ways.(A)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good;
and whoever acts hastily, blunders.[a]
3 Their own folly leads people astray;
in their hearts they rage against the Lord.[b]
4 Wealth adds many friends,
but the poor are left friendless.(B)
5 The false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever utters lies will not escape.[c](C)
6 Many curry favor with a noble;
everybody is a friend of a gift giver.
7 All the kin of the poor despise them;
how much more do their friends shun them![d]
8 Those who gain sense truly love themselves;
those who preserve understanding will find success.[e]
9 The false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever utters lies will perish.
10 Luxury is not befitting a fool;
much less should a slave rule over princes.
11 It is good sense to be slow to anger,
and an honor to overlook an offense.[f]
12 The king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion,
but his favor, like dew on the grass.[g](D)
13 The foolish son is ruin to his father,(E)
and a quarrelsome wife is water constantly dripping.[h]
14 Home and possessions are an inheritance from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.(F)
15 Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the sluggard goes hungry.(G)
16 Those who keep commands keep their lives,
but those who despise these ways will die.(H)
17 Whoever cares for the poor lends to the Lord,(I)
who will pay back the sum in full.
18 Discipline your son, for there is hope;
but do not be intent on his death.[i](J)
19 A wrathful person bears the penalty;
after one rescue, you will have it to do again.
20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
that you may eventually become wise.
21 Many are the plans of the human heart,
but it is the decision of the Lord that endures.(K)
22 What is desired of a person is fidelity;
rather be poor than a liar.[j]
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;
one eats and sleeps free from any harm.
24 The sluggard buries a hand in the dish;
not even lifting it to the mouth.(L)
25 Beat a scoffer and the naive learn a lesson;
rebuke the intelligent and they gain knowledge.(M)
26 Whoever mistreats a father or drives away a mother,
is a shameless and disgraceful child.[k](N)
27 My son, stop attending to correction;
start straying from words of knowledge.[l]
28 An unprincipled witness scoffs at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked pours out iniquity.
29 Rods are prepared for scoffers,
and blows for the backs of fools.(O)
Footnotes
- 19:2 When not guided by wisdom, appetite—or desire—is not good. “Running feet” (so the Hebrew) miss the mark, i.e., do not reach their destination.
- 19:3 One’s own folly destroys one’s life. It is an indication of that folly that one blames God rather than oneself.
- 19:5 The punishment fits the crime: those who abuse the legal system will be punished by the same system. They will not be acquitted.
- 19:7 Closely related to vv. 4 and 6. An observation, not without sympathy, on the social isolation of poor people.
- 19:8 Wisdom benefits the one who practices it.
- 19:11 The paradox is that one obtains one thing by giving up another.
- 19:12 An observation on the exercise of royal power. Both images suggest royal attitudes are beyond human control. Colon A is a variant of 20:2a and colon B of 16:15b.
- 19:13 One of many sayings about domestic happiness. The perspective is male; the two greatest pains to a father is a malicious son and an unsuitable wife. The immediately following saying is on the noble wife, perhaps to make a positive statement about women.
- 19:18 The pain of disciplining the young cannot be compared with the danger no discipline may bring. The chief reason for disciplining the young is their capacity to change; excluded thereby are revenge and punishment.
- 19:22 The proverb has been read in two ways: (1) “Desire (greed) is a shame to a person,” which assumes the rare Hebrew word for “shame” is being used; (2) “What is desired in a person is fidelity.” The second interpretation is preferable. The context may be the court: better to forego money (a bribe) than perjure oneself.
- 19:26 Children who disgrace the family equivalently plunder their father’s wealth and expel their mother from the home.
- 19:27 The meaning was disputed even in antiquity. The interpretation that most respects the syntax is to take it as ironic advice as in 22:6: to stop (listening) is to go (wandering).
Mishle 19
Orthodox Jewish Bible
19 Better is the poor that walketh in his tohm (integrity, guilelessness), than he that is perverse in his sfatayim (lips), and is a kesil (fool).
2 Also, that the nefesh (desire) be without da’as, it is not tov, and he that hasteth with his raglayim (feet) sinneth.
3 The folly of adam maketh his derech crooked, yet his lev rages against Hashem.
4 Wealth maketh many friends, but the dal (poor) is separated from his re’a (neighbor).
5 An ed shekarim (false witness) shall not go unpunished, and he that speaketh kezavim (lies) shall not escape.
6 Rabbim (many) will entreat the favor of the ruler, and every ish is the re’a (friend) to him that giveth mattan (gifts).
7 All the kin of the rahsh (pauper) do hate him; how much more does his friend avoid him? He pursueth them with words, yet they are not there.
8 He that getteth lev [of understanding] loveth his own nefesh; he that is shomer over tevunah (understanding) shall find tov.
9 An ed shekarim (false witness) shall not go unpunished, and he that speaketh kezavim (lies) shall perish.
10 Luxury is not fitting for a kesil (fool); much less for an eved to have rule over sarim.
11 The seichel adam deferreth his anger, and it is his tiferet (glory) to pass over a peysha (transgression).
12 The wrath of a melech is like the roaring of a lion, but his ratzon (favor) is as tal (dew) upon the esev (grass).
13 A ben kesil is the calamity of aviv (his father), and the contentions of an isha are a constant dripping [i.e., an irritant].
14 Bais and hon (wealth) are the nachalah avot, and a prudent isha (wife) is from Hashem.
15 Atzlah (slothfulness, laziness) casteth into a tardemah (deep sleep), and a nefesh remiyyah (a deceitfully lazy soul) shall suffer hunger.
16 He that is shomer over the mitzvah is shomer over his own nefesh, but he that is reckless in his drakhim shall die.
17 He that hath compassion on the dal (poor) lendeth unto Hashem; and for his benefits He will repay him.
18 Chasten binecha (thy son) while there is yet tikvah, and give not in to thy nefesh (desire) to kill him.
19 One of gadol chemah (great temper) shall bear onesh (punishment), for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.
20 Hear etzah, and accept musar, that thou mayest be wise in thy acharit (latter end, future).
21 There are many plans in a lev ish; nevertheless it is the etzah of Hashem that shall stand.
22 The ta’avah (what is desirable) in an adam is his chesed, and a rahsh (pauper) is better than an ish kazav (liar).
23 The Yirat Hashem tendeth to chayyim, and he that hath it shall rest secure; he shall not be visited by rah.
24 An atzel (sluggard, lazy one) thrusteth his yad into his dish, and will not so much as bring it back to his peh (mouth) again.
25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn what is prudent, and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand da’as.
26 He that mistreateth his av, and driveth out his em, is a ben that causeth shame, and bringeth cherpah.
27 Cease, beni (my son), to hear musar and thou shalt go astray from the words of da’as.
28 An ed beliya’al (corrupt witness) scorneth mishpat (justice), and the peh (mouth) of the resha’im devoureth iniquity.
29 Shefatim (penalties, judgments) are prepared for scoffers, and for kesilim, beatings for the back.
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